1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front body structure of a vehicle such as an automobile, and particularly, to a vehicle having a simple and compact structure which allows steering of the front wheels in a toe-in direction at the time of a small overlap offset collision.
2. Description of the Related Art
Safety against an offset collision has been demanded of the body structure of a vehicle such as an automobile, the offset collision being such that a side part of the vehicle collides with an object. In recent years, particularly, an improved performance for a so-called small overlap collision in the offset collision has been demanded of the body structure of a vehicle, the small overlap collision being such that only a side portion of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction collides with an object.
In a full-lap collision in which the entire front end of the vehicle collides, or an offset collision with a relatively large overlap, absorption of energy and load transfer in the rear direction of the vehicle can be performed using the front of a front side frame which is disposed extending in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle along the side of the engine compartment. However, in the case of a small overlap offset collision (which is a collision such that only the outside portion of the front side frame collides with an object), a structure is needed that can absorb and transfer energy without depending on the front end portion of the front side frame.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model (Registration) Application Publication No. S63-145764 describes a technology for improving the strength of the area outside the side frame of the vehicle body, the technology providing an obliquely disposed reinforcement member which connects between the rear surface of the cross member provided at the back of the front wheels and the side floor frame at the back of the rear surface. However, when the cabin itself is reinforced with the reinforcement member to obtain sufficient collision safety performance in this manner, it is necessary to absorb and transfer energy without depending on the front side frame, and thus a significant increase in vehicle weight and cost occurs, thereby impairing the driving performance as well as the fuel consumption performance of the vehicle.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) H5-85414 describes a technique in which a tie rod bending member is disposed in front of the tie rod disposed forward of the front wheel axle, and at the time of a collision, the tie-rod bending member is pushed backward so as to bend the tie-rod and turn the front wheels in a toe-in direction, thereby preventing the front wheels from hitting the side sill even when the front wheels are pushed back.
A collision of the front wheels with the respective side sills may be prevented by steering the front wheels in a toe-in direction at the time of a collision like the technology disclosed in JP-A No. H5-85414 described above. In this manner, an improved performance for a small overlap offset collision can be achieved with a relatively small increase in weight. However, such a tie rod bending member needs to be disposed at a location away from the steering range of the front wheels when the vehicle is in normal operation (when no collision occurs). When the tie rod is to be pushed only by the backward movement like JP-A No. H5-85414, the tie rod bending member needs to be moved with a considerably large stroke in order to practically bend the tie rod, and thus it is difficult to obtain such a movement with sufficient reproducibility. In addition, with the above configuration, the length of the tie rod bending member in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle is long, and thus it is impracticable to mount the tie rod bending member in the front overhang of a real vehicle. In view of the above-described problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle having a simple and compact structure which allows steering of the front wheels in a toe-in direction at the time of a small overlap offset collision.